Rick Vela leads the LVRC by-election

AS THE official vote count continues, Lockyer Valley Regional Council by-election candidate Rick Vela appears most likely to emerge on top, leading by nearly 800 votes.

However, until pre-polling results are released the winner will remain undetermined.

With 69.7 per cent of votes accounted for, current figures show Mr Vela sitting on 3639 votes or 21.23 per cent, ahead of Mark Newton who sits on 2878 votes or 16.79 per cent. Fellow candidate Brett Qualischefski is close behind Mr Newton sitting on 2845 votes or 16.6 per cent.

Mr Vela said he was feeling cautiously happy and acknowledged the fact that until trends from the pre-polling results were clear, establishing a winner was difficult.

"It's still relevantly close and at this stage we won't know until those results are in," Mr Vela said.

"There were over 5500 people who pre-polled this election which was way above normal figures out here.

"I'm doing okay right now but it's a long way from home."

Mr Vela thanked the community for the enormous support he has received leading up the by-election.

Mr Newton was unavailable for comment when contacted.

Be sure to stay up-to-date with further Lockyer Valley by-election results on our website and Facebook page.